New life

Within a split second, I felt a hard hit to the back of my head. All I saw was black as I tried my best to keep my balance. It all happened so fast. I was in shock as I tried to replay what happened, but it didn't make sense. None of it makes sense.

I wasn't scheduled to work that day, and yet I was there. The curse of being on-call. The floor was "short" that day. In healthcare, the floors are almost always short. There are too many patients and too few providers. My weekends were filled with picking up shifts; my weekdays were filled with studying.
I had dreams of working as a doctor providing healthcare to patients who desperately needed it. Never in my life would I imagine that one of those patients would be my attacker and the cause of my world being flipped upside down.

In school, they tell you about job security. But, how secure is that job when your life is changed?
They don't tell you about the increasing incidents of violent patients. Why is something that is becoming overwhelmingly prevalent in the healthcare setting so rarely addressed?

My attack resulted in a traumatic brain injury. The symptoms from my injury dramatically affected my life. I was unable to complete the courses I needed for medical school. I wish I could end this post with a list of all the things that I have accomplished since my injury, but I can't. The reality is that a TBI take s a toll on you, your life, your relationships, your goals and dreams, the list goes on.
I could also end this by advocating for safer workplaces, but I won't. Maybe one day I will use my platform for that. But for now, I'm just trying to navigate this new life of mine.

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